Biggest gripe of the game: The Aliens

[Centisteed]

Everything in this game so far is first rate. Except the aliens! They all look cartoony & sound like Gremlins. Can we get an overhaul on that?

We need something like Mass Effect, Traveller Third Imperium, Star Frontiers...just anything that looks realistic. We have awesome quotes from science fiction books as epitaphs, why not pull inspiration for aliens from those books? C'mon guys!

[Subquake]

I wish the game had more interesting races as well. A very old video game called "Space Rangers" had very interesting and distinct races, that looked differently and had their own personality traits of their race.

In No Mans Sky all 3 alien races look the same and have the same body structure (Try changing your character to one of the alien races and you will quickly notice, that the body part is the same for everyone.

I would rather see more unique races, such as aliens with 4 arms, tails or anything other than 2 hand/leg humanoids.

[Centisteed]

Originally posted by Subquake:

I wish the game had more interesting races as well. A very old video game called "Space Rangers" had very interesting and distinct races, that looked differently and had their own personality traits of their race.

In No Mans Sky all 3 alien races look the same and have the same body structure (Try changing your character to one of the alien races and you will quickly notice, that the body part is the same for everyone.

I would rather see more unique races, such as aliens with 4 arms, tails or anything other than 2 hand/leg humanoids.

Well, the issue with unique alien races is that whoever designs them always makes them look like cute, cartoony crap. I'd rather they looked like Star Trek humans with head ridges, than goofy stuff that defies suspension of disbelief.

The way it really works is if they follow a similar form as a human being. From a marketing perspective, those are the most successful and identifiable for all people. Like the Krogan in Mass Effect. Watching them run out to gun something down at point blank range made them a lot of fun to watch with their surly attitude & sarcasm. But also, look at the Alien Legion comic. It had a great system (and it had a few with more than 2 arms or legs). Star Frontiers had a blob for an alien as well as a centaur-like bug.


There is plenty of source material to build great aliens from. GURPS Space has a whole section on physical & cultural design. Clifford Pickover wrote The Science of Aliens. I've read all of this stuff. When the aliens are good, players will identify them & make a connection.

These aliens in No Man's Sky remind me of Whitley Streiber's Communion: A True Story (they made a movie out of it), the aliens are silly. That's what we have in No Man's Sky.

[0nion_man_LV]

Old alien sounds before NEXT were better in my opinion.

[Axeface]

I think no mans sky is one of the few games that actually tried to make things look alien. I know Mass Effect very well, and only a few of the races there look like aliens to me, everything else looks like painted humans, ala old Star Trek - which I think desingers need to start moving away from. Blue female aliens are people with dog heads is so 1960s.

I think the Gek are an excellent design. And I like the vykeen too. I also applaud how diverse they are within their own race. Other games dont bother with this and simply have different textures all on the same model. The only reason no mans sky aliens look 'cartoony' is because the WHOLE game looks cartoony, and that their bodies are too human. If no mans sky had gone for a more realistic look i dont think they would look cartoony at all.

[drj3rk]

Originally posted by Centisteed:

Everything in this game so far is first rate. Except the aliens! They all look cartoony & sound like Gremlins. Can we get an overhaul on that?

We need something like Mass Effect, Traveller Third Imperium, Star Frontiers...just anything that looks realistic. We have awesome quotes from science fiction books as epitaphs, why not pull inspiration for aliens from those books? C'mon guys!

So, have you only come across Gek then? There are two other main alien races, plus a couple of different ones as well. There are the Vy'keen which are a more warrior like race, and the Korvax which are robotic hive-mind. They are very different from the Gek. I also like the Gek, but I'm just getting the idea that you haven't seen the others?

There are also others, but since they're typically more story related, I won't mention them. (though I have come across a few in normal travels)

[Shawarma Chavez]

Why are they all giving me thumbs up? Why is a Korvax model doing a yawn/stretch? I too find the aliens all so homogenous that it is kind of ruining the atmosphere. It's like every space station in the entire galaxy is the bar from Cheers, where I walk in and everyone in the whole damn room turns and waves "Hey, Norm!"

[Centisteed]

Originally posted by ;1743342383229192184:

I think no mans sky is one of the few games that actually tried to make things look alien. I know Mass Effect very well, and only a few of the races there look like aliens to me, everything else looks like painted humans, ala old Star Trek - which I think desingers need to start moving away from. Blue female aliens are people with dog heads is so 1960s.

I think the Gek are an excellent design. And I like the vykeen too. I also applaud how diverse they are within their own race. Other games dont bother with this and simply have different textures all on the same model. The only reason no mans sky aliens look 'cartoony' is because the WHOLE game looks cartoony, and that their bodies are too human. If no mans sky had gone for a more realistic look i dont think they would look cartoony at all.

The Blue female Amazonian race in Mass Effect is classic space opera. They even had that in Star Control from the late 80s & early 90s. However, the multi-alien sexual system they have made it an interesting variation...Sort of like humans but very far apart in many ways.

The art on those aliens looks flat. I'm not saying thorw Gek and Vy'keen into the trash can. I'm saying redraw them to look more realistic & then allow you to add them in your crew & give the crew members personalities & a background mission (which is akin to the effect of Mass Effect, but let's face it...it's good stuff).

I disagree with the rest of the game looking cartoony. The rest of the game is very solid looking, even the animals, the fauna, the wide range of color. It's like an adult animation like Heavy Metal, whereas the Aliens on the Space Stations or wherever, standing around doing nothing, are like The Flintstones by comparison. HG needs to redo these aliens & add characters with a character mission or two after they join your crew. It'd be awesome.

Originally posted by drj3rk:

Originally posted by Centisteed:

Everything in this game so far is first rate. Except the aliens! They all look cartoony & sound like Gremlins. Can we get an overhaul on that?

We need something like Mass Effect, Traveller Third Imperium, Star Frontiers...just anything that looks realistic. We have awesome quotes from science fiction books as epitaphs, why not pull inspiration for aliens from those books? C'mon guys!

So, have you only come across Gek then? There are two other main alien races, plus a couple of different ones as well. There are the Vy'keen which are a more warrior like race, and the Korvax which are robotic hive-mind. They are very different from the Gek. I also like the Gek, but I'm just getting the idea that you haven't seen the others?

There are also others, but since they're typically more story related, I won't mention them. (though I have come across a few in normal travels)

Yes. So far, the detail of behavior with them is in the text. Nothing else is really working for them. Don't spoil anything for me! :)

Originally posted by Shawarma Chavez:

Why are they all giving me thumbs up? Why is a Korvax model doing a yawn/stretch? I too find the aliens all so homogenous that it is kind of ruining the atmosphere. It's like every space station in the entire galaxy is the bar from Cheers, where I walk in and everyone in the whole damn room turns and waves "Hey, Norm!"

LOL! I feel you there. They should try using their Procedural Engine to build some nice looking aliens to be NPCs and NPC crew (joining you in the ground game, etc).